Colleen
by kate10011
Summary: Set after 2x12, Emily attempts to be a hero for Aiden, as he always had been for her.


**Colleen**

Before his car had even left the driveway, she had her contacts in Europe searching for proof of Colleen's death at all costs, blow her cover, spend every penny she earned, just get it done. On one hand she was shattered for her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend? she wasn't quite sure), but on the other she is silently fuming that he blamed her even though she had his best interests at heart when she stopped him from taking that shot. Days past with no word from her contacts, she stopped by his house, and even though she could see him inside, he refused to let her in or acknowledge her presence. She stewed over the fact that he allowed Nolan inside, for what reason she would probably never know, because he and Nolan hated each other and she loved him with all her heart. Permanence wasn't something that she was familiar with, her mother had been sent away, her father dragged away, even he had left her once before, but it was something that she needed with him. Despite every instinct that told her to run away and protect herself, her soul craved every moment with him, no matter what that moment may have been.

Daniel got on her nerves more than usual, trying to set up dates or "business meetings" as a thin, synthetic disguise for his true intentions. She feigned illness to avoid him and prayed he would get the hint, but as _he_ had released only seconds after meeting him, Daniel was too thick to get her little nudges.

Finally word came from a source in Moscow; the news wasn't what she had hoped for. Foolishly she had been praying for a miracle, to be able to tell him something that would make him smile, to be his hero, his saviour as he had been hers. Instead she had gotten confirmation of what she had feared the most. Racked with nerves on the drive over to his beachfront cottage, she tried to figure out what to say to him, how to break the worst piece of news she could ever give to him. Steadying herself as she approached the house, she knocked on the front door despite the fact she knew there would be no answer. Pulling her tools from her back pocket, she picked the lock in seconds letting the door swing up, she left them on the table and walked down the hallway finding him leaning on a counter in the kitchen, his back to her.

"Aiden" She said quietly, trying not to startle him although he probably already knew she was there. When he turned slowly to face her, she saw the tears streaming silently down his face, his normally beautiful, serene eyes red and puffy.

"Takeda already called" He said, answering her silent question. Immediately, without time or inclination to question her actions, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. He buried his head in her shoulder and let out one big sob before losing control of his emotions completely, sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to her for support. Her own tears fell as she thought of what he had lost today, his little sister, his confidant, his best friend, his silent hope. She didn't know what details Takeda had given him, and now wasn't the time to ask questions, but she prayed he had not given the same level of detail to both of them.

The body had been discovered two days after Takeda had taken the two of them back to the training base in Japan, partially burned and badly disfigured, Colleen had endured months, if not years, of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her captors. Over half of the bones in her body her broken, fractured or dislocated, she had hundreds of painful lacerations to her face, arms, tights, stomach and vaginal areas, as well as burns and scarring to most of her remaining dermis. Her ultimate cause of death was indeed a drug overdose, but even just to breathe would have been excruciatingly painful. She had died around the same time as her captor, and had been left under an overpass, unclaimed her remains were cremated and stored when police could find no leads on her case or no family to take her home. What little DNA they could gather was matched against a sample of her father's to confirm identification. But Emily prayed that Aiden knew none of this, losing his sister was enough, without knowing what she had endured, without knowing that ultimately death was kinder to her than life.

Hours passed and they moved slowly from the kitchen and into the bedroom, shedding their clothes without an ounce of sexual pretence, he held onto her like a lifeline as he cried himself to sleep. She stayed up a while longer, wiping the last of the tears from his face and holding him tightly before drifting to sleep herself.

* * *

He dreamed of his sister that night, remembering the last Christmas they had spent together. He had been 21 to her 19, London had been covered in a blanket of pristine snow, or least he remembered it that way, something rare and special. She dragged him outside the apartment they shared with their mother and step-father shortly after lunch, acting much younger than her years, she had made snow men and snow angels until her clothes were soaked through and he had carried her pale, shivering body inside. The next day she came down with a fever so bad he thought he would have to take her to the hospital, but still gave her an arrogant smirk every time he brought her another bowl of soup. His last memory of her was her over dramatic retelling of what was in her words a "struggle to find the strength to live" and "a very near death experience" when their grandmother had come to visit them after New Year's.

Opening his eyes slowly, he came face to face with the other love of his life. She had obviously been awake for a while, watching him as he slept. Her forgiveness for his actions came in a silent understanding between them and as usual words were not needed to say what they both already knew.

"I was in a girls home when my father died. Nobody even bothered to tell me, I found out when the evening news came on that night. I had nobody to talk to, I cried myself to sleep every night and not a single person cared." She whispered, stroking his jawline softly, "You are not alone. You have me. Whatever you need. I'm here for you."

Everything about it terrified her, her instincts screamed for her to run, never look back and never return. Nausea and the thumping of her heart almost overcame her in the seconds he waited before replying.

"I need to finish what we started. I need to be sure the Initiative can't do this again to another girl, another family." He touched their foreheads together lightly before continuing, "But mostly, I need you, Amanda."

She ignored his little chuckle at her sigh of relief as her heart rate returned to a non-fatal level and the bile retreated from her throat. Relaxing her grip on him, she was content to just lay there until he made the next move. Her mind wandered as they both lost themselves in their own thoughts; she wondered what there next step would be. Obviously the charade with Daniel had to be over, not only could she not bare it anymore, she refused to put him through another second of watching her with another man, even if it was just for show. She did not know what the Initiative or Helen Crowley knew at this point, but the Intel they had gathered would be enough to let them step away from Helen, at least for the minute.

What they needed at this point was time, time to grieve, time to plan, time to train, time to execute. Time was the one thing they didn't have on their side. Nolan would need additional training and protection, she hadn't planned on having him this involved, this exposed, and it looked like a business trip to Japan would be in order. Aiden would need time away, time to get his head together and process the news without so many secrets and lies in the way, time to be honest. And she would need to be with both of them, to ensure both of their welfare's, to be both support system and co-conspirator to both of them.

In his own time, Aiden got himself out of bed and went to take a shower and clean up. When she heard him step into the shower she got up herself and started to get thing organized. She called Nolan and told him when and where to meet them, what to bring and what to tell people. Then she packed a bag for both of them, finding her things alongside his like the last few days had been nothing but a cruel, painful dream. Retrieving their things from the bathroom, she walked down stairs only having snuck two little glances at his naked, wet figure; she silently applauded her willpower and self-restraint.

* * *

An hour later the three of them meet at the private airport before boarding a plane, neither Aiden nor Nolan where in a mood to question her on exactly what they were doing. He spent much of the trip lost in his own thoughts as she and Nolan amused themselves by playing cards. A car picked them up when they landed and took them through the three hour drive out of the city.

"Where are we?" Nolan finally asked as they stepped out of the car.

"You are here for training" Takeda said, stepping out from his garden beside them, "Follow me, Mr Ross"

Emily lead Aiden through to the garden where Takeda had stepped out of moments before as Nolan followed the old man, questioning him eagerly. Silently they walked through the maze, Emily leading the way, Aiden correcting her silently one or twice with a soft smile and a jerk of the head. Soon they arrived in the centre; she sat cross-legged on the bench as he crouched before her.

"I should never have left you here that night" He whispered after a while, "Not the way I did, I made the wrong choice, and I won't forgive myself for that."

"I forgive you" She whispered, "You were looking after me, you always do."

"Amanda, if I can do nothing for the rest of my life but look after you, I will die a happy man" He said, reaching to hold the back of her neck, gently pulling her face closer to his.

"Only if you let me take care of you" She replied, "Just this once."

"Deal" He agreed, finally pulling their mouths together. But he hadn't counted on her momentum pushing him backwards and they toppled over. His laughter was like medicine for her soul, unfiltered, honest laughter. "That was..."

"Cheesy" Nolan finished for them from his place at an entrance to their right, "Now will one of you please explain why you dragged me here?"

And just like that it was on again, their break was over and it was back to full throttle to bring down the Initiative, for her father, the innocently accused and his innocent angel, Colleen.

* * *

**Author's Note: This was meant to be a one shot but the hyperactive three year old inside my head known as muse has other ideas so Chapter Two is coming soon.**


End file.
